The Odyssey (Oxford World's Classics Hardback Collection), page 22
voice—either a goddess or a woman. The others called out loudly,255
and she at once opened the shining doors and came out and
invited them in; and they all in their folly went with her.
Only I hung back, because I suspected some trickery; and then
they vanished, the whole crowd of them, and not a single one
reappeared; I sat there for a long time, watching out for them.”260
‘So he spoke; and I slung my great bronze sword, studded with
silver, from my shoulder, and then my bow and arrows,
and told him to lead me back on the way that he had come.
But he grasped my knees with both arms and entreated me,
and weeping loudly addressed winged words to me:265
“Zeus-nurtured man, do not force me to go back there! Leave
me behind! I know that you too will not come back, nor will
you rescue any of your crew. No, let us quickly escape, with
these men here, and in that way we may yet avoid the evil day.”
So he spoke, but I answered him and said: “Eurylochus,270
as for you, you may certainly stay behind where you are,
eating and drinking next to our hollow black ship;
for my part, I shall go, for a strong necessity is upon me.”
‘So I spoke, and started inland, up from the ship and the sea.
But when on my way through the sacred valleys I had nearly275
reached the great house of Circe, skilled in many drugs,
Hermes of the golden rod fell in with me as I was walking
towards the house, in the likeness of a young man whose beard
is just coming, which is the most charming time of youth.
He gripped my hand firmly in his and spoke directly to me:280
“Where are you off to now, poor fellow, alone on these
uplands, ignorant of the country, while your companions
are penned like pigs here in crowded sties? Have you really
come here to free them? I do not think you will now reach
your home, but will stay here yourself just like them. Still,285
I will save you and set you free from your troubles. Look,
here is a drug of great power; take it and then go to Circe’s
palace, and it will preserve your life against the day of evil.
Furthermore, I will reveal to you all Circe’s malignant wiles.
She will make you a potion, and drop drugs into the mixture,290
but even so she will not be able to bewitch you, because this
benign drug that I shall give you will stop her. Now I shall tell you
exactly what will happen. Circe will strike you with her long stick,
and that is when you must draw the sharp sword from beside
your thigh and rush at her as if in a frenzy to kill her.295
She will cower in terror before you, and invite you into her bed.
Now, you must not hold out against the goddess’s offer of bed,
if you want her to set your companions free and to treat you well,
but you must order her to swear the blessed gods’ great oath
that she will not plot any other kind of harm against you,300
nor unman and make a coward of you once you are naked.”
‘So the Argus-slayer spoke, and gave me a plant he had
pulled out of the ground, and showed me its nature:
it had a black root, but its flower was the colour of milk,
and the gods call it moly. It is difficult to dig up, at least305
for mortal men; but the gods, as ever, can do anything.
‘Hermes then departed through the wooded island, heading
for far Olympus, and I went on towards Circe’s palace;
and as I went my heart brooded darkly on many things.
At the doors of the goddess with beautiful hair I stopped310
and shouted from where I stood, and she heard my voice.
At once she opened the shining doors and came out and
invited me in, and I followed her, troubled in my heart.
She led me in and seated me on a silver-studded chair, fine
and intricately worked, and there was a footstool for my feet.315
Next she prepared a potion in a golden cup for me to drink,
and into it, with evil thoughts in her heart, dropped a drug.
She offered it to me, and I took and drained it, but she did
not bewitch me; she tapped me with her stick, saying:
“Off to the pigsty with you now, and lie with your comrades!”320
‘So she spoke, but I drew the sharp sword from beside my
thigh and rushed at Circe, as if in a frenzy to kill her. She
shrieked aloud, ducked under my sword and grasped my knees,
and in grief-laden tones addressed me with winged words:
‘ “Who are you? Where are you from? Where is your city, and your325
parents? I am amazed you were not bewitched when you drank.
No other man, no one at all, has been able to resist this potion
once it has passed the barrier of his teeth and he has drained it—
you have a heart in your breast that is proof against sorcery.
Surely you must be Odysseus, man of many turns, the one who330
the Argus-slayer, god of the golden rod, has always told me
would come in his swift black ship on his way back from Troy.
So come, put your sword back in its scabbard, and then
let us both go up to my bed, so that when we have slept
together in the bed of love we may come to trust one another.”335
‘So she spoke, but I answered and addressed her:
“Circe, how can you tell me to be gentle towards you when
you have turned my companions into swine in your halls?
And now you have me here you invite me, with deceit in
your heart, to go to your bedroom and into your bed, so that340
when I am naked you can unman and make a coward of me.
I certainly have no intention of going to your bed, goddess,
unless you can bring yourself to swear a great oath to me
that you will not plot any kind of harm against me after this.”
So I spoke, and she without more ado swore as I had ordered her;345
and only when she had sworn not to harm me, and ended her oath,
did I go up into the wonderfully beautiful bed of Circe.
‘All this time maidservants were busying themselves in the
hall, four of them, who worked for Circe about her house.
Now these were the offspring of springs and of groves,350
and of sacred rivers that run down into the salt sea.
One of them was busy throwing fine purple coverings
over chairs, while underneath them she spread linen cloths.
The second maid drew up tables made of silver in front of
these chairs, and on them she arranged golden baskets.355
The third set about preparing sweet mind-cheering wine
in a silver mixing-bowl, and set out golden cups.
The fourth maid brought water and kindled a great fire
under a huge tripod-cauldron; and the water grew hot.
When the water in the flashing bronze vessel had boiled, she360
sat me in a bath and washed me from the huge basin, pouring
the water, now mixed to a pleasing warmth, down over my
head and shoulders, until she had taken the heart-breaking
weariness from my limbs. When she had washed and rubbed
me richly with olive oil, she clothed me in a tunic and a fine365
cloak and conducted me to sit on a fine silver-studded chair,
cunningly made; and there was a stool to go under my feet.
Another maid brought water in a beautiful golden pitcher
and poured it into a silver bowl for me to wash my hands,
and then drew up a polished table to stand beside me.370
A respected housekeeper fetched bread and set it before me,
and added a heap of delicacies, giving freely from her store.
Circe then invited me to eat; but my spirit could find no joy,
and I sat thinking of other things, my heart brooding on evil.
‘When Circe saw me simply sitting there, not reaching out375
my hands for the food, but nursing a mighty grief within me,
she stood next to me and addressed me in winged words:
“Why on earth do you sit here, Odysseus, as if you were dumb,
eating your heart out and holding back from food and drink?
Do you perhaps suspect some further trickery? You should not380
be fearful; I have already sworn a mighty oath not to harm you.”
‘So she spoke, and I answered and addressed her:
“O Circe, how could any man who has right thoughts in his
mind bring himself to taste food and drink before he had
rescued his companions and seen them before his own eyes?385
Come now; if you are honestly inviting me to eat and drink,
release them, so that I can set my eyes on my trusty companions.”
‘So I spoke, and Circe strode straight out through her hall,
holding her stick in her hand, and opened the pigsty gates
and drove my men out, looking like nine-year-old hogs.390
They stood in front of her, and she went among them
and smeared every one of them with another ointment.
The bristles which the noxious drug given them by revered
Circe had caused to grow on them fell from their limbs,
and they became men once again, younger than they were395
before, and far more handsome, and taller to look upon.
They recognized me, and each man grasped my hand, and
into the hearts of all there stole tender lamentation, and a loud
echo went all around the house; even the goddess pitied them.
Then she, bright among goddesses, stood close and spoke:400
“Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many wiles,
now you must go to your swift ship and the shore of the sea.
First of all you must drag your ship on to the land, and
store your treasure and all your ship’s gear in caves. Then
come back here, bringing your trusty companions with you.”405
‘So she spoke, and my proud spirit was persuaded.
I set off for my swift ship and the shore of the sea, and
after a time I found my trusty companions beside the swift
ship, lamenting piteously and shedding floods of tears.
As when calves in a farmyard all frisk about together410
to meet a herd of cows when they return full of
fodder to the dung-strewn fold; the pens can no longer
contain them, and they run around their mothers, lowing
continually; so my men, when they saw me, streamed
out about me, weeping, and the feeling in their hearts415
was as if they had reached their homeland and the very city
in rugged Ithaca where they had been born and raised.
Full of lamentation they addressed me with winged words:
“Zeus-nurtured man, we are as full of joy to see you returning
to us as if we had come back to rugged Ithaca, our homeland.420
But now, tell us the full tale of the death of our companions.”
So they spoke, and I answered them with soothing words:
“The first thing we must do is to drag our ship on to land, and
then store our treasure and all the ship’s gear in some caves.
After that you must all make haste to come with me to425
see your companions in Circe’s sacred palace, eating and
drinking; they have enough there to last them a long time.”
‘So I spoke, and they quickly obeyed my orders; only
Eurylochus resisted and tried to restrain his companions,
and spoke to them, addressing them in winged words:430
“You poor wretches! Where are we going now? Why seek
trouble by going down to Circe’s hall, where she will likely
change us all into pigs or wolves or lions, to be compelled
to stand guard over her great house for her—just as when
the Cyclops trapped our companions after they got into435
his inner yard, and this reckless Odysseus with them.
It was because of his reckless folly that those men perished.”
‘So he spoke, and I pondered in my heart, whether I should
draw my long-bladed sword from beside my sturdy thigh
and with it cut off his head to roll on the ground, though440
he was my kinsman, and a close one at that; but my friends
stood around, and tried to restrain me with soft words:
“Zeus-born hero, if you so order it, we will leave this man
to stay behind here with the ship and mount guard over it.
But as for us, lead us on to the sacred palace of Circe!”445
So they spoke, and set off inland from the ship and the sea.
Even so, Eurylochus was not left beside the hollow ship,
but came with us, because he was afraid of my terrible rebuke.
‘Meanwhile Circe had hospitably bathed the rest of my crew
in her palace and rubbed them richly with olive oil, and450
had given them all clothes, tunics and woollen cloaks; and
they were feasting happily when we found them in her halls.
When my men came face to face and recognized them, they
set up a tearful lamentation, and the house echoed to its sound.
Then Circe, bright among goddesses, stood close and
addressed me:455
“Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many wiles,
you must now make an end of this outburst of sorrow; I too
know of the great hardships you have endured on the fish-rich
sea, and also the cruelties hostile men have done to you on land.
So come now, eat your food and drink your wine, until460
such time as you recover that same spirit in your breasts
which you had when you first left your native land of rugged
Ithaca. Now you are exhausted and without spirit, always
thinking of your painful wanderings, nor are your hearts
ever given to pleasure, for you have surely suffered much.”465
‘So she spoke, and our proud hearts were persuaded. And so,
day after day until one year had completed its round, we sat
there, feasting on boundless quantities of meat and sweet wine.
But when a year had gone, as the seasons turned and the
months passed and the long tale of days was completed,470
then my trusty companions called me to a meeting and said:
“Are you mad? Now is the time to remember your ancestral land,
if indeed it is divinely ordained for you to survive and to reach
the country of your fathers and your well-established house.”
‘So they spoke, and the proud heart in me was persuaded.475
All day long until the setting of the sun we sat there,
feasting on boundless quantities of meat and sweet wine.
But when the sun went down and darkness came over us,
my men settled down to sleep throughout the shadowy palace,
while I went up to the beautifully fashioned bed of Circe480
and clasped her knees in entreaty, and the goddess listened to
my voice; speaking in winged words I addressed her:
“Circe, now fulfil that promise you made to me, to see me
on my way home. The spirit in me is now impatient to go, and
it is the same with my companions; they are wearing my heart485
out with their constant lamentations whenever you are not here.”
‘So I spoke, and she, bright among goddesses, at once replied:
“Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many wiles;
let none of you stay any longer in my house against your will.
But first you must all complete another journey, and visit490
the dwelling-place of Hades and of dread Persephone,
in order to consult the shade of Theban Teiresias,
the blind prophet, whose senses are still secure in him;
to him alone, even after death, Persephone has granted
intelligence, while all the others are but flitting phantoms.”495
‘So she spoke, and the heart within me was shattered.
Sitting there on the bed I wept, and my heart no longer had
any desire to live and to look on the light of the sun. But
when I had had my fill of weeping and rolling on the ground,
I gave her my answer, addressing her in these words:500
“Circe, how can I do this? Who will be my guide on this
journey? No man has ever yet sailed his black ship into Hades.”
‘So I spoke, and she, bright among goddesses, at once replied:
“Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, Odysseus of many wiles,
do not let the lack of a guide for your ship trouble you;505
simply step the mast, spread the white sail, and take your
seats, and the North Wind’s blasts will carry her onward.
When you have crossed the Ocean in your ship, you will
come to a low-lying shore and the groves of Persephone,
where tall poplars grow, and willows that shed their fruit early;510
beach your ship there, on the margin of deep-eddying Ocean,
and yourself make your way into the dank house of Hades.
There the waters of Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus, which is
a branch of the river Styx, flow together into Acheron,
the two rivers meeting at a rock with a thunderous roar.515
Next, hero, you must do as I tell you: come close to this place
and dig a trench about a cubit’s length* in each direction,
and round its edge pour a drink-offering to all the dead,
first of honey and milk, then of sweet wine, and thirdly of
water; then sprinkle white barley over them. Pray at length520
to the powerless shades of the dead, promising when you reach
